December 26, 2008

Favorite Christmas Memory: Trail of Lights in Austin

This year we headed down to Austin, TX, for an early Christmas celebration with my brother, his wife, and my 7-week old niece. Grandma and grandpa (my mom and dad) from Michigan headed down too. It was a special time welcoming the first grandchild on my side of the family. On our last night together, we headed to the Trail of Lights in Zilker Park.

The fun starts out at the large Christmas tree of lights. Since we went on a Saturday night, we were joined by a a few thousand other families who first gathered around the tree, then started down the trail.

I especially enjoyed watching my dad holding his granddaughter.

And seeing my brother and sister-in-law transform from newlyweds to new parents. They are doing a beautiful job.

True to form, Austin provided a lot of funky charm.

My sister-in-law, who moved to Austin after high school, has a good connection of friends around town. She scored us a giant bag of kettle corn. With four of the six of us over-indulging throughout our walk, we only made it through half the bag.

Back in the day, she used to drive the train. She said she was a little grease monkey, pulling out the tools and crawling underneath it to make repairs.

Matt in his tree t-shirt, taking a breather from the crowds. Soaking up the Christmas lights.